Kemper Snowboards is back (and theyre into NFTs now)

Kemper Snowboards launched in 1987 out of founder David Kempers garage in Canada. The brand achieved success, but it was short-livedby the end of 1994, the company was defunct.

Until 2018.

The former professional snowboarder Jib Hunt decided to give the company a new lease on life, reviving the company and moving it to Utah to take advantage of the Utah snowboarding scenehes experienced some early success as well.

Hunt says Kemper was one of the top three snowboard brands in the world at its peak. Now, the company is experiencing 3x-4x growth year-over-year since its revival. Kemper is even bringing back more categories of inventory and expanding product lines into skins and bindings.

In its first year, the company sold 300 boards, Hunt says. Last year, 3,500 boards were sold.

Hunt attributes some of the companys early success to a revitalized interest in retro snowboards and a swing back to some of the trends that made Kemper a hit in the first place. The flashy colors and designs of the 1990s are back in style, and thats what Kemper is all about.

Theres this pretty large and growing group of 35 and older snowboarders who are collecting and seeking out the boards they had when we were kids and trying to get all those old boards again Theres that whole nostalgia element, Hunt says. At the same time, retro is starting to pop with the younger generations. Some of these bright brands, and fashion, and lifestyle action sports were bringing back the neon colors and the really funky print. I just thought that snowboarding needed an injection of that excitement.

The pandemic also brought more people into outdoor sports. According to market research group NPD, sales of splitboard snowboards surged 134 percent from August 2020 through January 2021, while all-mountain snowboard sales were up 13 percent.

Kemper is also expanding its operations in Utah and will soon begin to manufacture certain boards in the state, moving some of its manufacturing from China. Hunt hopes this will be a better strategy long term. Though the move will add labor costs, it will cut exorbitant shipping costs. Hunt plans to start by manufacturing one or two models in-state, hoping to expand operations in the future, possibly even moving into a bigger facility in the state.

Wed like to be the biggest snowboard-specific brand in Utah and become the brand that Utah knows the most, he says.

Hunt doesnt expect to get back into the top three snowboard brands in the world right away, but hes eying the top ten right now. He compares it to starting a NASCAR race in the back of the pack and working your way forward, and he has some ideas on how the company can edge its way forward: by taking advantage of cryptocurrency and NFTs.